A few of my FAVORITE Apps

I am such a techie girl! You can take the girl away from the iPhone, but you can’t take the iPhone away from the girl–Yes, this is ME! I spend a little great deal of time on my iPhone. BUT–in my defense I do have a lot of great apps that help me stay organized and be productive.

Here are some of my favorites in no particular order:

Keyring

This FREE app allows you to scan and use all those little loyalty cards that you get from everywhere. Just pull up the app and flash that card! Evernote

This FREE (with some paid upgrade extensions if you choose to add them) app has ALL kinds of great little goodies!  My FAVORITE thing about this app is that any note you type into it can be “tagged”–just like tags on your blog and all those tags are searchable! BRILLIANT! So, it takes a little time to become familiar with this, but do a little google searching on what people are using Evernote for and see what applies to you. I use it for recipes, blog ideas, bills, notes and many other things!

iCalendar

This $2.99 app is worth every penny! I am a color-coded kinda girl when it comes to my calendar. With a husband, myself and 3 kids I learned in order to keep up I needed to color code my paper calendar. This calendar allows me the same flexibility, yet it is always with me! It imports from Google, Exchange, Outlook & Yahoo and you can also type directly into it. It is also searchable. Like I said–worth every penny!

Intuit Money Due

I use this handy-dandy FREE app to keep up with people who owe me money for my photography business. I only use it for weddings because those people can pay deposits and then make payments or pay in full. Instead of me having to keep track of that some other way, it simply keeps track for me. I can also send a receipt when a payment is made or send an invoice reminding them of the amount due. You can coordinate this with your calendar & contact information and have a great all around system for your small business and run it on the go.

Square

This FREE app is a very convenient way to receive payments for anything! Things you make, things you sell, your small business, etc. It charges their credit card immediately and generally the next business day your money is in the account you linked up with (minus the small % fee for their service).

Paypal

This FREE app is the same as Square in that it takes money, but people can use their bank account or credit card info and never have to share it with you. Also, it takes approximately 3 business days to get your money this way. It is a great alternative if you buy and sell items, goods or services.

 

These are just a few of my favorite and productive apps that help by keeping me organized. Do you have some favorite apps? I would love to hear from you!

Laundry closet quick & free update

We have a laundry closet, so there’s not much to really do to it. Pinterest is my favorite place to go for frugal decorating ideas!

I have HUGE plans for my laundry closet, but I have a TINY budget for it right now. So, since we’ve lived here over 1 1/2 years you can understand why I feel like I need to get on the ball with some of my projects! I don’t have a lot of time to do them, so when I have a few minutes I try to get a little done here and there.

Here is my closet before

Here is my closet after

I hung up my boys’ baby frames and the outfits they wore home from the hospital. I also put my washtub & washboard up. I added a laundry printable, a piece of fabric on the dryer, a glass heart bowl to hold change or other things from pockets, a light for when I don’t want to turn on the bright light, a picture frame & a command hook for a hand towel to have handy to dry my hands. 🙂

So, there you have it. My FREE upgrade for the time being. The only thing I did was spray paint the frame the printable went in and I already had the paint.

Do you have any free or frugal decorating suggestions? I would love to hear them!

Organizing & Wishing

So, this “New Year/New Me” wants to be focused, but she also wants to be organized. I have scoured Pinterest and dreamed of having that perfectly organized home, but I know that having a hubby & 2 almost grown boys still at home that isn’t going to be my reality. So, what do you do when that’s where you are? Well, here’s what I’m going to do.

My goal is to spend a little time each night organizing small spaces. After working all day, making supper, running errands, washing clothes, etc., there isn’t much time to tackle something large. I wind up getting started, getting distracted, getting started again and then, before you know it, it’s bedtime! (Must be my adult “ADD”)

Tonight I began with my laundry closet. It’s not a large space, so I felt it was safe for my first night. I read a blog tonight by someone who was going to organize her home for $0. As I read, I realized how guilty I was for thinking I needed the cute containers or the bigger space before I could really organize.

I didn’t take a before picture, but here is what my laundry closet looks like after about 15 minutes of cleaning out & organizing it.

I have a garbage can for when I clean out the dryer screen, a basket & glass jar for putting the change & other pocket items I find, a hand towel to dry my hands on, all my homemade detergent, certain cleaners and hangers. I’m definitely happy with my first project!

So, I will continue to update you on my progress. Maybe you will find some things that make sense to you or that will help you become more organized this year. If you have suggestions for something that has worked for you, please share! 😉